English/Literature was pretty straight forward, and History was a little challenging. There were absolutely no questions on California history, the Cival War, Renaissance, the Missions, the Industrial Revolution, the American Revolution. I did have 4 questions regarding the African slave trade.

Click to expand...

Interesting....I took tests I and III this weekend. I prepped with the Kaplan, Boosalis and Cliffs books and was thoroughly confused by the time the test rolled around. Taking the sample tests gave me conflicing results. I did great on the history on the Kaplan and bombed the same subject with the Cliffs. English results were the exact opposite. Since I graduated five years ago, I enjoyed the refresher, but by the end of last week I felt really good and thought I'd do fine. I thought I would be a breeze and III would be a challenge.

Fast forward to Saturday morning.

When the tests were in front of me I started with I, but the questions just seemed...complex, and I couldn't stand not knowing what was on III. I ended up working through III, which wasn't quite as difficult as I expected it to be, and then went back to II.

Katrinkakat...I didn't have Civil or Revolutionary war either (thank God) but I did have Slave Trade, Reconstruction and a few on CA Indians, which was a topic I was worried about, having grown up in AZ and never taking CA history.

There were two questions on the history portion that I agonized over, since two answers seemed valid. The more I thought about them the more I made cases for both answers. I ended up just randomly choosing. Unfortunately, when I got home and checked, I was wrong on both. I'm so bummed. I hope I only remembered those two because I got all of the other answers correct! It'll kill me to have to wait a month for the results. There's not much time to get this done if I want to apply to my credential program for January!

I'm taking II in July. Hopefully, that'll be the only part I'll have to do then!

Jen 12, I didn't do the tests in the order I had planned, either!
I was going to check out all the CR questions first, then do all MC, then do all CR. But I found after I checked out all the CR questions, then I did the MC for subtest 1, I wanted to do the CR questions for that subtest right after the MC. Then I did subtest II MC, then it's CR's.etc. That worked for me. I know of some questions that I got wrong for sure also. But we are done with the test and it doesn't do any good to worry about this question or that. Hopefully we will all get good news next month.

I went back and forth between subsets 1 and 3, answering everything I knew (or thought I knew, or hoped I knew) for sure, then answering the rest. The only problem was that I wrote a cr on the wrong page !! I had to re-write it on the correct page, then erase the mistake. Learn from my mistake, future CSET takers! Pay attention to where you're writing the cr's.

It's great to see that so many of us feel good about how we did! I took subtests I and III on Saturday, and I am optimistic about having passed both -- though I know not to count my chickens, as the saying goes. I spent the entire five hours on those two subtests, but I didn't feel rushed.

I have two amusing stories about my CSET experience. My testing site was George Washington High School in the Richmond district of San Francisco. It's notoriously difficult to park there, but I foolishly expected the high school to have a parking lot. I ended up driving around looking for parking for what seemed like the duration of a Chinese dynasty or the Cold War! In desperation, I even tried parking in a space that wouldn't have fit my car even if I'd been able to rotate my wheels 90 degrees and drive sideways into the spot.

As I continued driving around, I saw a woman standing by a car and made eye contact with her. She waved me on, indicating that she was arriving, not leaving. I rolled down my window and asked her where a person could reasonably expect to find parking in the area. She offered a suggestion, but I was already late for the reporting time -- so I asked her if she was taking the test that morning. When she said no, I offered her $10 for her spot! Unfortunately, she was late for a class and declined the offer. I said, "How about $20?" She declined again, so I was back on the hunt. Fortunately, I found a spot a few minutes later and was seated right in time to start the test.

Also hilarious is that I based an entire constructed response on an event that took place 1,100 years after the time frame specified in the prompt! Hopefully my eloquent, though painfully misguided, response will get me partial credit.

This forum was a major help to me, so thanks, one and all! Just knowing I wasn't alone in my CSET-induced anxiety made a big difference.

TeacherGroupie cannot resist checking in with morals to these stories:

The moral of katrinkakat's story for the future teacher is that there isn't just one way to take a test; it makes sense to adjust one's strategy to suit the circumstances. And katrinkakat seems to have succeeded in doing so.

The moral of jd123's story is to wield a big eraser - and to look for ways to recover. And jd123 seems to have pulled that off.

The moral of Pluto's story is to use all available resources, including the free enterprise system (though in this case it didn't work).

Ashlee~ A friend told me today that even though we sometimes get the CBEST scores a day or two early, it's not so with the CSET. We won't hear until the 18th. But, I'm not thinking about it! :/

Click to expand...

I heard that the other day too from a friend ... it stinks for me, I have to start my job at the district on the 22nd ... and I have a current job (not in education) that I need to leave ... but if I don't pass I don't start the new job .... so if I pass I can give 3 days notice, which is kind of crappy but it's what has to be done, I can't risk my current job if I don't pass

Remind them that there is nothing you can do about your scores right now. You either passed or did not pass. It doesn't do any good to worry. Enjoy these days, and don't think about the test scores until next Monday. Otherwise summer days are going to fly by, and we don't want to spend them worrying about this or that.
After this test, we will be worrying about something else. Look at the other forums, they are worrying about credential programs and job interviews, and once they are in a classroom, there are worries about parents and troubles with students. There will always be worries. The trick is to not let them consume you. You know, Hakuna Matata!

I was able to get my test results an hour earlier that last testing session. So, try to punch in your numbers and see if you passed or not before you get an email about your test results. MMMM wine sounds good.

Hey, I just read previous posts from the January and March CSET MS test results. The results from January's test were posted by 3:05pm (at least that's when the first poster here saw them!) and the results from March 17th's test were posted by 11:39am!!
Tomorrow I will be kicking my co-teacher off the computer so I can keep checking the CSET website!

Hey, I just read previous posts from the January and March CSET MS test results. The results from January's test were posted by 3:05pm (at least that's when the first poster here saw them!) and the results from March 17th's test were posted by 11:39am!!
Tomorrow I will be kicking my co-teacher off the computer so I can keep checking the CSET website!

I have been reading all your posts for the last couple of months and they have been extremely helpful....I too am waiting for the results today and am on pins and needles. I took all three on May 19....was the only one taking all three. I do not have any feeling on how I did...we will see...I am crossing my fingers for all of you and me too!!!! I am freakin out today...Thank to all of you